Page 206 of Knot So Lucky

My heart’s pounding, beats tripping and stuttering like an engine on the absolute limit.

I don’t back down.

I never back down.

But I have no idea what happens next.

“Wait, wait—just?—”

I raise both hands like I can physically deflect the dare back at Aurora, but my cheeks burn and I know I’m fucked before the words even finish leaving my mouth.

“I don’t do that,” I snap, and it sounds way more defensive than I mean it to.It’s also a fucking lie because the thought makes me harder than I dare wish to acknowledge, feeling a tad embarrassed to be so turned on like this over a concept of kissing…another Alpha.

Or more….Cale.

Cale clocks it instantly—the blush, the stutter in my voice, the way I can’t meet either of their eyes for a heartbeat. He grins like a maniac who just watched his rival’s engine detonate in the first lap of a Grand Prix.

Aurora’s grin widens, savoring the chaos.

“C’mon, Luca,” she purrs, rolling her hips in my lap. “You going to be the only one in this room afraid to take a risk? Or are you worried you’re not going to measure up?”

She throws the gauntlet and Cale picks it up—hell, he runs with it.

“Really?” he drawls, voice thick with challenge. “Not going to please our Omega, Thorne? Points deduction if you flinch, just saying.”

Every ounce of pride I have is screaming for a fight, but every cell below the neck is screaming for something else entirely.

I glare at him, then at Aurora—desperate for an out, anything, but she’s looking at me like I’m the only prize she’s ever wanted.

“Fuck you,” I growl, but it’s all bark. “I can take it.”

Cale smirks, all dimples and threat and glitter caught in his scruff.

“Love it when you get feisty, Thorne.”

Instead of turning to me, he goes for Aurora first—because of course he does. He hauls her back into his arms, kissing her like he’s starving and she’s the only thing left that tastes good.

It’s not gentle.

He lifts her right off my lap, spins her half-into his, and devours her mouth. His hand fists in her hair, dragging her head back so he can bite her neck, then goes back to her mouth, tongue fucking her until she makes a noise that’ll haunt my nightmares forever.

“Watch close, princess,” he mutters against her lips, low and lethal. “You’re not getting this again.”

She doesn’t flinch—doesn’t fucking blink. Just sits there, eyes blown, mouth wet, focused on us like we’re the main event.

Cale breaks away, finally, and looks at me. All the cocky bullshit is gone; we’re in predator mode now, blood and instinct, no going back.

I lean in. Don’t hesitate.

The space between us is nothing, and if I’m going to do something insane, I’m doing it on my terms.

Our mouths meet and it’s not a kiss—it’s a collision.

We’re fighting from the first second—teeth, tongue, Alpha-on-Alpha aggression that says I’m not backing down, not even if it costs me. Cale bites my lip—hard, no warning—and I answer by digging my fingers into the back of his neck until he gasps.

Aurora moans. Loud, unrestrained, like she’s two seconds from tearing us apart to get what she wants.

Cale pins my jaw with his hand, forces my mouth open further, and deepens the kiss. I let him, even as I fight for control, clawing back ground with teeth and tongue until neither of us is winning, just burning and taking and daring the other to break first.